ShiVi - Redemption

Chapter 18

Well, not the best of chapters. I couldn't quite get this one right, no matter how much I tried rewriting. Never mind that now, Happy reading!

Chapter 18

————At the college———

It had been two days Shiva and Raavi had fought. Raavi had spent an entire day in college today, looking as lost as ever. Sameer had to literally call her out of her thoughts, multiple times as they tried to get through their final rehearsals. That night's events were still clearly bothering her and she was itching to go talk to Shiva, she didn't know what or how to approach him. For the first time in days, Shiva hadn't found any excuse to come pop into her house to meet her or even text her about her whereabouts, as he had been doing in the last few weeks. She knew she had hurt him a lot and she had to talk to him about it. She called out to Krish and asked him if he could drop her back.

"Waise Bhabhi, aap theek toh hona? Shiva ne bataya mujhe ki do din pehle aap ke peeche lafandar padhe the" said Krish, concerned.

"Mujhe aap ko akele nahi chodna chahiye tha, mujhe aap ki baat sunni hi nahi chahiye thi" said Krish, feeling guilty about everything that had transpired.

It had been two days since Shiva had shown up home, tearful and bothered, but he had refused to tell any of them what had happened or where he was. On persisting he had told Krish everything the other night and Krish had in turn apologized to him for not dropping Raavi home. Shiva hadn't even scolded him like he would normally do and just asked him to please ensure that he drops her without fail from onwards or tell him when he couldn't.

"Krish iss mein teri galti thodi na hai, maine hi tujhe bheja tha na" said Raavi earnestly.

"Nahi bhabhi mujhe Shiva ki baat sun leni chahiye, Shiva sahi kehta hai, main gadheda hoon" said Krish, clearly guilty.

"Shiva ki baat?" asked Raavi confused.

"Woh jab aapne college join karne ka socha tha, toh Shiva ne hi mujhse kahan tha, ki har din main aapko college se pick or drop kar doon, aur dhamki bhi di thi uss ne ki agar maine aisa nahi kiya toh woh mujhe kue mein ulta latka dega, par yeh sab jaan ne ke baad bhi ussne mujhe daanta nahi, itna bebas maine usse aaj tak nahi dekha, I am sorry Bhabhi" said Krish sadly.

Hearing this, Raavi felt awful that she said all those things to Shiva. He had always been there to protect her whenever she needed. He made sure she was safe. He was the one who turned up looking for her, just to make sure she made it home safe and in return, she had lashed out at him, saying the meanest things.

Deciding in her mind, she said,

"Krish, kya tu mujhe Pandya Store chod dega please, main Shiva se baat kar loongi, tu tension mat le"

————At Pandya Store————

Shiva was in the store, trying his best to keep his mind occupied. Ever since Raavi had told him off that night, he had become visibly quiet and kept to himself. He would always been either found working at the store till late hours or sleeping at home. No matter how much his Bhabhi had persuaded him to tell her what's wrong, he stayed mum. Only last night, he had finally given in and told Krish everything. He hadn't told him what Raavi had said to him though. He had spent two days thinking over and reflecting on how wrong he had treated her, how he had ruined everything when they could have easily been living happily now. His anger, his ego had just destroyed it all. Only he knew, how hard it had been to be away from her for the past two days. All he wanted to do was rush to her and ensure her that everything would be okay and he'd do anything to fix everything no matter what it takes. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice that called out "Shiva?".

There she was, standing before him with her doe eyes, looking at him as if she was trying to figure out what is he thinking. "Tu yahan?" he asked trying to not look into her eyes and keeping the boris he was meddling with, aside.

"Shiva, main....woh.." stammered Raavi while he looked at her expectantly.

"I am sorry" said both in unison.

"Pann tu kyun sorry bol rahi hai? Sorry toh mujhe bolna chahiye, mujhe tujhpe chillana nahi chahiye tha, mujhe pata ni kya hogaya, tere ghar naa aane ke khabar se, main itna darr gaya ki main uska sara darr apne gusse mein nikaal diya, I am sorry, tu...tu sahi keh rahi thi, mujhe koi haq nahi hai tujhpe gussa hone ka, tujhpe chillane ka, agar mujhe teri fikr hoti toh main tujhe kabhi akela chodta hi nahi, humesha tere saath hi rehta, aage se main kabhi tujhpe aise ilzaam nahi lagaonga I am sorry" he said tearfully, looking away.

"Nahi Shiva, iss baar sirf teri galti nahi thi, mujhe pata hai, tune woh sab iss liye bola kyun ki tu darr gaya tha, aur maine naa jaane gusse mein tujhe kya kya suna diya, mujhe dhyaan rakhna chahiye tha" reaching out for his arms, turning him over to face her and shaking her head into a no.

"Nahi Raavi, accha hua tune woh sab keh diya, kyun ki baatein dil mein dabaane se accha hai, ki khulke bol do, aur waise bhi tune kuch bhi galat nahi bola, pann bas ek baat tu humaare beech ki kadwahat ko apne aur baaki pariwar waalon ke saath mein mat la, sab tujhse bohut pyaar karte hai, Raavi, tu unse alag mat ho, woh humesha tera saath denga aur main bhi, I am sorry agar meri wajah se tujhe laga ki tu unko kabhi call nahi kar sakti" said Shiva, full of remorse, looking down as he couldn't meet her eyes.

"Shiva, mujhe pata sabko meri fikr hai, bachpan se leke aaj tak, chaahe tu aur main kitna bhi jhagad le, mera Pandya family ke upar humesha haq raha hai, haan woh baat alag hai ki jahan maine socha tha tu mujhe Sherni of Pandya Niwas award dega unn gundon se ladne ke liye, aur kaha tune apne gusse ki barsaat kar di, aur uske chakkar mein maine bhi gusse mein kuch bhi bol diya" said Raavi animatedly trying to lighten the mood.

When she saw Shiva still looking down at his feet miserably she said,"Dekh idhar, mujhe aisa nahi bolna chahiye tha kal, I am sorry, tu mujhe maaf karega na, dekh agar tune aisa nahi kiya naa, main har din dukaan mein aake tera sarr kha jaaongi, samjha?" giving her best threatening look causing Shiva to break into a smile.

"Do lafandaron se kya lad liye, ek dum gundi ban gayi tu, Maafi maang rahi hai, ki dhamki de rahi hai?" said Shiva, coming back to his elements, mocking her and amused at the same time.

"Haan toh gunda boy ke sangath main rahoongi toh yahi hoga na" she said crossing her arms, striking a pose like an angry young man, causing both of them to burst out laughing.

As their laughter died down she said, "Tujhe pata hai tere chakkar mein, yeh sab soch ke main acche se rehearse hi nahi kar paayi, pata nahi Sameer kitna irritate hogaya hoga"

"Accha hua" muttered Shiva under his breath, keeping a check on his temper.

"Kya bola?" asked Raavi, raising an eyebrow.

He dismissed it by shaking his head into a no. "Toh dance performance kab hai?" he asked quickly.

"Kal" replied Raavi.

They sat around in silence unable to initiate further conversation resulting in Raavi saying, "Mujhe chalna chahiye"

"Haan woh... kal ke liye all the best!" he said awkwardly.

She turned to him as if to ask him to come see her perform, but she didn't and left bidding goodbye.

Shiva is a bit sad that she didn't ask him to come watch and thinks maybe she doesn't want him there.

Shiva's monologoue

"Itna sab hone ke baad bhi Raavi khud hi aa gayi, mujh mein toh himmat hi nahi ho rahi thi usse baat karne ki, I hope ki main tere saare takleef door kar doon, Heyy Somnath, aage jaake Raavi jahan bhi rahi, jo bhi karein, usse humesha khush rakhna, chahe toh mere hisse ki bhi khushiyaan usse de dena"

Precap : Fest day!

To be continued...

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Do you think fest day will bring ShiVi closer? Let me know what you guys think.